Inside the Dodgers deals *

In today's sports section, The Times' Jason Reid comes up with a pretty good reconstruction of the moves and deliberations behind last week's Dodger shakeup. He reports that the new GM Paul DePodesta confided in the spring that a thorough revamp would be needed, but then the team began to win. If DePodesta could have just gotten rid of Juan Encarnacion, the lineup black hole acquired over the winter by the previous GM, that might have been it for now. But DePodesta concluded the team that was in first place last week couldn't win it all, so he pursued numerous offers and trades that Reid chronicles. A sidebar by Bill Shaikin notes that some baseball people consider Brad Penny, the pitcher the Dodgers get instead of Randy Johnson, as a number two starter at best, "a six-inning guy," says one unnamed executive. [ * Naturally, Penny gives them eight shutout innings his first time out.] Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts also has questions about Penny, and has very good things to say about Daily News writer Kevin Modesti.